CreatureData

Black-footed ferret

Mustela nigripes (Audubon & Bachman, 1851)

ENEndangeredmammalsExtinct

The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), also called the American polecat or Prairie dog hunter, is a mammal in the family Mustelidae, order Carnivora. It is a small, terrestrial and nocturnal carnivore, with an adult body mass of 850 g and values up to 907 g reported.

Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)
Photo: USFWS Mountain Prairie · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the black-footed ferret

Gestation lasts 43 days (from 42 to 44 days), a litter holds 3.4 young, and sexual maturity comes at 1 year. The IUCN Red List classes the black-footed ferret as Endangered, a threatened category, and its lifespan is given as 12 years.

Weight
850 g – 907.1 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
12 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
42 days – 44 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
3.4 – 3.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.1src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the black-footed ferret

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)
USFWS Mountain-Prairie · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)
USFWS Mountain Prairie · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)
USFWS Mountain-Prairie · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)
USFWS Mountain-Prairie · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)
Colorado Front Range National Wildlife Refuge Complex · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)
laiet17 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)
Audubon, John James; Audubon, John Woodhouse; Bachman, John · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)
Polyoutis · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the black-footed ferret live?

Not recorded

What is the black-footed ferret?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), also known as the American polecat or prairie dog hunter, is a mustelid species native to central North America. It is roughly the size of a mink and is similar in appearance to the European polecat and the Asian steppe polecat. It is largely nocturnal and solitary, except when breeding or raising litters. Up to 90% of its diet is composed of prairie dogs.

The black-footed ferret declined throughout the 20th century, primarily as a result of decreases in prairie dog populations and sylvatic plague. It was declared extinct in 1979, but a residual wild population was discovered in 1981 in Meeteetse, Wyoming. A captive-breeding program launched by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service resulted in its reintroduction into eight western US states, Canada, and Mexico from 1991 to 2009. As of 2026, about 300 individuals live in wild populations, with four self-sustaining populations in South Dakota, Arizona, and Wyoming. It was first listed as "endangered" in 1982, then as "extinct in the wild" in 1996 before being moved back up to "endangered" in the IUCN Red List in 2008. In February 2021, the first successful clone of a black-footed ferret, a female named Elizabeth Ann, was introduced to the public.

From the Wikipedia article “Black-footed ferret” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black-footed_ferret&oldid=1382806817), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the black-footed ferret endangered?

The black-footed ferret is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species. What the categories mean.

How is the black-footed ferret classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderCarnivora
  5. familyMustelidae
  6. genusMustela
  7. SpeciesMustela nigripes (Audubon & Bachman, 1851)

Synonyms Putorius nigripes

Other names and names in other languages (27)
  • American polecatEnglish
  • Prairie dog hunterEnglish
  • ابن مقرض أسود الأقدامArabic
  • tchoř černonohýCzech
  • Sortfodet ilderDanish
  • SchwarzfußiltisGerman
  • Hurón de pies negrosSpanish
  • Hurón de patas negrasSpanish
  • Turón Patinegro AmericanoSpanish
  • mustajalkahilleriFinnish
  • putois d'AmériqueFrench
  • Furet à pieds noirsFrench
  • Putois à pieds noirsFrench
  • Feketelábú görényHungarian
  • Cane di prateriaItalian
  • Furetto dai piedi neriItalian
  • クロアシイタチJapanese
  • 검은발족제비Korean
  • SvartfotilderNorwegian Bokmål
  • ZwartvoetbunzingDutch
  • tchórz czarnołapyPolish
  • Черноногий хорёкRussian
  • Американский хорёкRussian
  • Чернолапый хорекRussian
  • Svartfotad illerSwedish
  • Kara ayaklı gelincikTurkish
  • 黑足鼬Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the black-footed ferret

Other species in the same genus Mustela.

LC, Least Concern
Stoat (Mustela erminea)

Stoat

Mustela erminea

Mustelidae

CompareBlack-footed ferret vs Least weaselBlack-footed ferret vs StoatBlack-footed ferret vs European polecatBlack-footed ferret vs European mink

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the black-footed ferret?

The black-footed ferret is a mammal in the family Mustelidae, order Carnivora. It is a small, terrestrial and nocturnal species.

What is the scientific name of the black-footed ferret and who named it?

Its scientific name is Mustela nigripes, with the authority (Audubon & Bachman, 1851).

How heavy is a black-footed ferret?

An adult Black-footed ferret weighs 850 g, with values up to 907 g reported.

What does the black-footed ferret eat?

The black-footed ferret is a carnivore.

Is the black-footed ferret endangered?

Yes. The IUCN Red List classes it as Endangered (EN), a threatened category.

How long does a black-footed ferret live?

Its lifespan is given as 12 years.

How many young does a black-footed ferret have?

A litter holds 3.4 young, with up to 3.5 reported. Gestation lasts 43 days, from 42 to 44 days.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-footed-ferret

MLA

“Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-footed-ferret.

BibTeX
@misc{black_footed_ferret_2026,
  title = {Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-footed-ferret},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}